Ash Bolt
Geelong will have the opportunity to see one of the world’s most well-known stories told in a different light, when comedy legends Lano and Woodley bring their latest show the region this week.
Colin Lane and Frank Woodley will bring their unique style of comedy to retell Herman Melville’s Moby Dick at Costa Hall on Saturday, May 14.
Lane said he was excited to get down to Geelong and perform the show.
“I can’t remember the last time Frank and I performed in Geelong to be honest, and I’m not sure why we don’t come more often considering it’s just down the road,” he said.
“We’re just excited to be performing anywhere after the last couple of years.
“People are happy to be able to get out and it’s a reasonably sized theatre down there, so we’re hoping to see a nice crowd come and enjoy the show.”
The show is the second since Lano and Woodley reunited in 2017.
“Frank and I got back together a few years ago and did a show about Orville and Wilbur Wright which went well,” Lane said.
“We really enjoyed doing a historical story … [and] wanted to do that again.
“During lockdown in 2020 I had read Moby Dick and when I pitched that to Frank, he just said ‘sounds great’ and that was it.”
Lane said Moby Dick was an amazing story that provided the pair with plenty to work from.
“It’s an amazing story – it has revenge, faith, impending doom, zoology, there’s even a whole chapter about the colour white,” he said.
“We butcher the story completely – if you come to see a perfect retelling, you’ve made a gross error – but we do try to delve into the issue of the story and talk at length about the themes.
“There’s a great similarity in there between Captain Ahab and his nemesis the white whale and myself and my nemesis Frank.”
The visit to Geelong will be part of a larger national tour that started at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, where it got strong reviews, and will feature most capital cities.
“The reaction to the show has been amazing so far – I think it is pretty much the only comedy show that doesn’t have a single COVID joke in it at the moment,” Lane said.
“Geelong’s in a really good spot too, because by the time we get there we will have done the show a few times, which means we will have cut out all the bad bits.
“It’s been a struggle at times to get here – writing our show over Zoom was not a great time but it’s just the way it was.
“But now it’s written and we’ve got the early shows out the way and made some improvements, we’re at the fun part.
“We just get to turn up, do the show and have some fun now.”
Details: geelongartscentre.org.au
